Penultimate meeting with the Lord 

Political economy eventually a study of contradictions and the creative solutions to those contradictions.
Every society at a certain point choses a path which may be right or wrong. Political economy an
interface between culture, production and power. Power has a mediating process in an economy. We
are passing through a growth model. BJP government stable with a massive mandate and a strong
leader however economy in a serious crisis. Government exhausting resources to meet the present
needs. Eg. RBI surplus transfer. Economy not growing in a natural way. Contradiction between growth
and distribution.

Growth-wallahs taken the logic of development to an extreme debate on model of development is

missing. Growth model is a lazy model however no major political party presenting an alternative model
of development. Opening retail sector can have dangerous consequences for local entrepreneurs and
industry. Global capital wants to enter even the retail sector that is dominated by small shop owners.
Convenience vs livelihood of people in conflict due to entry of mega super marts. Very model of neo
liberal development involves monopolization. What does it mean to grow at a certain rate? Will growth
result in economic development? Trickle- down economics has its limits, proved largely to be ineffective.
What type of society will the current rate of growth or accelerated rate of growth lead to? India today
should have been happier due to increased growth rates but we find no evidence to support the same.
Better housing, health, education and employment lacking. Current growth model creating an
enthusiastic middle class. Neo liberalism is increasing the working age of people. 20% to which all of us
(middle and upper class) belong are better off due to neo liberalism. Rest 80% worse off which includes
landless laborers, peasants and migrant workers. Model of development should ideally improve the
conditions of the 80% gradually.

Collective concerns such as egalitarian development branded as socialistic ideas and frowned upon. Neo
liberalism the dominant model of development. This is also linked to the collapse of Soviet Union and
Communist states. When the foreign capital comes, it wants all concessions. Proposed tax cuts attract
capital but leave less resources for the state for welfare. Scholarship fosters a free citizen, education
loan creates a bondage. In higher education, posts have been reduced but salaries have been increased.
Contract lecturers being increasingly used to cover shortfall. But contract lecturers being paid less.
Creativity of middle class has declined. Middle class distancing itself from the concerns of the 80%. We
have an asymmetrical society with a small super rich, sizeable middle class and vast majority who are
struggling. Will $5 trillion economy address these concerns? Super rich argue that taxation reduces
incentive for innovation and growth. We are under the misconception that the 80% will continue to
suffer in silence. Relative deprivation a powerful factor. Suicides rates on the rise. After 70 years we are
yet to solve basic problems. Class doesn’t have the sensitivity towards taxation, keeps bargaining for
more concessions. Alternative model of development must focus on distribution. Equality must become
a part of our discourse.

Once the class at the bottom of the society fights against the top 20 percent, the society will have
serious tremor within its foundation and system. Cultural politics today is perhaps the only way to
contain this kind of aspiration and crate fear among the people. Assuming that even if the most
marginalized section do not fight back, the educated middle class and the youth of the country would be
the one asking questions. The problem however with this youth is that this population hasn’t received
good quality education and hasn’t worked enough thus his moral conscious is not as high and he also
doesn’t have the courage to ask for his rights since he knows he doesn’t have put in the effort to
perhaps deserve this job. Education is becoming marks-centric. The middle class doesn’t have the good
quality education that would have led to this class asking the right kind of questions. There are classes
which re rejecting jobs and there are classes which are begging for these jobs.

A nation wanting to compete in the global world has to have a great quality system of education. The
degradation of education might be a conspiracy or might be a deliberate effort of the neo-liberal
advocates to silence its critics.

Malnutrition, mortality rate of the society is extremely high in the society. This can be a great marker
and a reflection of the society i.e. how is the newborn child welcomed into the world.

The major contradiction in economic development resonates with politics and culture. As inequalities
increase, discontentment also increases and democracy’s scope reduces. There is a concentration of
power and there is a class that concentrates wealth and distribution of wealth across board is becoming
increasingly impossible leading to lesser distribution of wealth. Conflict is shortening and the alternative
to this is distribution of power to the people at the local level. But in India’s case, federalism is getting
depleted rapidly and power is being centralized. Subversion of the federal system is a consequence of
economic disparity and is becoming increasingly getting difficult to handle.

If India as a nation state being as pluralistic it is, has to have a redistribution of power. The 14th finance
commission does the redistribution of wealth under Y.V. Reddy. States like Kerala demand more
resources saying that since we’re already on the path of advancement, the center has to incentivize
them so that the GDP grows, but on the other hand the underdeveloped states like Bihar and up argue
for having more funds on the contrasting logic. The relative disparity between the states increases either
way, putting more pressure on the center. The question thus arises that if already advanced states are
receiving more funds, what would happen to the regions which are backward. The similar issue arises in
the question of water.

Since minorities in India are being subverted, as has been done with the Muslims of this country, the
society doesn’t know how these communities will react to such a repression. Perhaps then violence will
be resorted to and the state will unleash violence instead of democracy which would lead to further
marginalization of these communities. The cultural aspect of the country has created deep rifts between
the Indian society.

If the welfarism aspect of the government is implemented correctly, the society is okay with the state
coercing a little. But if welfarism retreats, the use of coercion and violence and force will definitely be
challenged since the legitimacy of the state is undermined. Crisis in the universities of india is a
manifestation of this issue. Resources aren’t being dispensed and the center is coercing the structural
essence of these institutes. The role of legitimacy then becomes extremely important in giving the state
its power, which is derived from the people itself.

When there is a legitimacy crisis, there is no scope for positive intervention and the state becomes even
more repressive and violence.

Sir wants a society which is economically egalitarian, ecologically sustainable, morally alleviating,
politically participatory, culturally diverse and enriching, socially harmonious, and aesthetically pleasing.
These parameters and aspirations should be realized through the use of public policy. This is the vision
of political economy.